This Fat Cat has been carved from a beautiful piece of African Blackwood, also known as Ebony. It is a wood that was traditionally used to make the highest quality clarinets, a very dense wood that has a natural almost black colour and a super fine textured grain that polishes to a glass-like finish. The timber combined with the tactile shape of this sculpture make it lovely to handle. It has been carved from the last of my stock of African Blackwood.

The item pictured is the actual item you will receive, all pieces are unique and every carving is photographed individually in order to accurately represent it to the best of my ability (further images may be available upon request).

Every item I list has been carved entirely by hand, by myself, in my small workshop in SW France. Each piece is carved individually, trying to make the best use of the particular piece of timber it is carved from, thereby making each piece unique. The wood is never coloured or stained in any way, and the carvings are hand finished with a high quality natural wax in order to retain the beauty of the wood.

All shipping is combined, please see Shipping & Policies for further information.

Payments

As I am based in France I list my items in EUROs, the price shown on the listings will reflect your local or chosen currency. Etsy does add a small currency conversion charge if items are purchased in a different currency, this will be included in the price you see listed.

If you would like to group items in order to reduce shipping costs please let me know at the time of purchase, I can reserve multiple items for you for shipping at a later date. I ask that the first item is paid in full (including shipping), and subsequent purchases can be paid for at the time of shipping by prior arrangement.

Please pay promptly for your purchases. If you expect there to be a delay in payment, or if you would prefer to pay be cheque please contact me to let me know.

Shipping from France

I'm happy to ship WORLDWIDE and will always combine shipping, so you only pay for a single item regardless how many items are shipped in a single consignment (this should be calculated at checkout). If items are paid for separately Etsy will charge shipping at each checkout but if the items are going to be sent in the same consignment the additional shipping will be refunded by myself. If your country is not listed for shipping please contact me.

All items will be posted within 1 working day after receipt of payment whenever possible. I have been known to trek miles through the snow to get to a post office when my local one has been unable to open! Please rest assured that if there is any delay in getting the pieces shipped I'll let you know.

I charge cost price for shipping using La Poste, the French national postal service, or Chronopost if upgraded shipping is offered.

I will attempt to ship very small items by "Priority Airmail" using a padded envelope, which usually takes 1-2 days within France, 5-7 days within Europe, and 7-15 days for the rest of the world. Only a handful of items are eligible to be shipped by this method due to size restrictions and the nature of the work.

Everything over 3cm wide will be shipped via "Colissimo International" ("Colissimo" for shipping within France) which is tracked, insured and will need to be signed for. Within Europe this usually takes 5-7 days, everywhere else usually takes 7-14 days, and on very rare occasions parcels can take longer if there are delays at customs. A tracking number will be provided at the time of shipping.

If Upgraded Shipping is selected at checkout (where offered) the item will be sent by "Chronopost International" which takes 1-2 days for Europe and 2-4 days for the rest of the world.

All pieces will be carefully packed, I have many years of experience and will post items using the most appropriate size boxes. Sometimes smaller boxes will be placed inside a large padded envelope as La Poste insist the shipping label is attached on one side of the package without folding the edges.

Unless requested I will not include payment information or invoice receipts when shipping the purchased items, so if they are being sent as a gift the recipient will not see the price paid for the carving. If a personal message for the recipient is desired please let me know at the time of purchase and I'll be happy to oblige.

Please note that Any customs duties and taxes are the buyer's responsibility.

Refunds

I want you to be happy with your purchase! :)

If you are not entirely satisfied - for whatever reason - please return the item to me and I'll refund your purchase price in full, no questions asked. Unfortunately I am unable to refund any shipping charges incurred.

Additional

I am always happy to consider custom orders, please let me know what you're looking for and I'll see what I can do. Please be prepared to wait a long time for unusual requests, and there are many things I am unable to carve due to my carving methods & tooling.

And finally, please remember it's only me here (well, me and the cat), and I'm only human! I do everything I can to ensure listings are accurate, and I endeavour to reply to emails swiftly. If you see any errors in my listings please let me know and I'll amend it asap.

If you'd like any further information on current projects, or just to see what I'm up to, why not head over to my Facebook page and say Hello :)